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Constellations

2015
Not on view
Rather than striving for pure non-objectivity, Pindell combines abstraction with patterns and decorative elements such as numbers, arrows, and other personal references that reflect her influences (such as African art), life experiences, and political activism. Forms associated with Minimalist and Post-Minimalist art, such as grids and numbers, become endowed with personal meaning, as her father was a mathematician. Constellations was inspired by Pindell’s fascination with star charts and astrological maps. She began working with circles, dots, arrows, and vectors in the early 1970s. The arrows and vectors here suggest multiple, often contradictory directions and, by association, meanings. The circular form, a recurring shape in Pindell’s oeuvre, refers to the ability to shift negative experiences into something positive.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Constellations
  • Artist: Howardena Pindell (American, born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1943)
  • Publisher: Center for Contemporary Printmaking
  • Date: 2015
  • Medium: Open bite etching
  • Dimensions: Sheet: 30 × 22 in. (76.2 × 55.9 cm)
    Image: 18 in. (45.7 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of the artist and the Center for Contemporary Printmaking, 2015
  • Object Number: 2015.748
  • Rights and Reproduction: © Howardena Pindell
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Self-Portrait, Howardena Pindell American, Oil on Masonite
Self-Portrait
Howardena Pindell
1962
Flight/Fields, Howardena Pindell American, Color lithograph and etching with collage
Flight/Fields
Multiple artists/makers
1988–89
Untitled #87b, Howardena Pindell American, Collage of cut and torn paper, punched paper, acrylic, watercolor, board, and thread on board, mounted on board
Untitled #87b
Howardena Pindell
1977
Untitled #2, Howardena Pindell American, Collage of pen and black ink and punched paper on graph paper
Untitled #2
Howardena Pindell
1973
Oval Memory Series II: Castle Dragon, Howardena Pindell American, Cut and pasted postcards, tempera, opaque watercolor, fluorescent paint, punched papers, nails and thread on foam board mounted on matboard
Oval Memory Series II: Castle Dragon
Howardena Pindell
1980–81

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